Hi guys,

Today received basically everything for my quad. 
I am still missing my VTX and I still have to learn to solder (my TS100 is coming next week) but I already couldn't wait and assembled the frame and added motors / props to have a look of the drone.

At first I felt dumb to build it, then take it apart and build again later, but actually I am super happy that I did.
Now I know what more tools / stuff I need, and how to do it haha..

Finally time has come that I got my hands on building something, im super hyped. 

Funny thing I wanted my first drone to be some cheap drone to learn to fly and won't feel bad crashing it.
Guess what? I so freakin love this drone already and I can't imagine breaking it!   

Okay, enough talking, this is my build post and I will attach pictures on progress here.




Once again, big thanks to everyone for helping me!
Oscar, your blog and forum made this happen

Normally I'm not a blue lover....but it looks really good on your quad. Looking forward to your build.

Finally!! Someone else into color coordination and not afraid to admit it LOLLL

That is a really clean looking build and I know what you mean about not wanting to crash it. But look at it this way, it's like having a Mona Lisa and leaving it in a closet for fear that exposure will deteriorate it. You must hang that Mona Lisa, sir! Hang it proud!!

(P.S. blue anodized screws = +100 points lol)

Yeah, that's going to be a nice looking build. You got a great taste in frames. But then I would say that

I bought some extra arms for mine but in a whole year I've never needed to replace one. I got some slight de-lamination on the end of one of the arms where I hit a pole but nothing too serious and I've just left it on as it's not that noticeable. All I've managed to break are some of the aluminium standoffs and their screws, and some of the nylon stack standoffs but that is all. The rest of the frame has survived remarkable well.

It's a shame that Foxeer stopped doing the blue Lollipops. I tried to get one for my Acrobrat but they had already sold out and it was one of the limited edition colour runs not to be repeated

Thanks guys!
Yea well i didnt really like the stock colour for the standoffs, so I decided to go with blue mostly because of fpv cam
Also on these standoffs 3d printed parts fits better than on the stock ones. 
Haha yes I wish I could get blue lollipop. Well I can always go with a black one

I got also spare arms. But i think actually top plate looks more fragile

Cant wait for my soldering kit, want to bring some life here.

(12-Oct-2019, 11:00 PM)notafraid_fpv Wrote: Yea well i didnt really like the stock colour for the standoffs, so I decided to go with blue mostly because of fpv cam

I got also spare arms. But i think actually top plate looks more fragile

The top plate that comes with the Martian II frame is only 1.5mm which also I thought was a bit flimsy considering that the bottom is 3mm. The top plate is available in both 1.5mm and 2mm as a spare part so I bought a 2mm top plate and replaced it with that for extra strength (available HERE). I guess if you really wanted to you could sandwich a 2mm and 1.5mm plate together for ultimate strength, but I haven't done that.

I have colour co-ordination OCD as well so replaced the purple standoffs with red ones to match my red RunCam Eagle 2 Pro  And most of my 3D printed parts are also printed in red TPU.

I agree with ronin...you need some blue annodised screws for the standoffs  I got red ones for mine

Oh yeah, if you do the screws, you need some blue or blue and black wire braid for the motor wires, particularly if you are using a 4in1 ESC.

(12-Oct-2019, 11:27 PM)Krohsis Wrote: Oh yeah, if you do the screws, you need some blue or blue and black wire braid for the motor wires, particularly if you are using a 4in1 ESC.

It's the important things like this that you realise you forgot which delays your build because you have to make yet *another* order to Banggood and wait yet *another* 3-4 weeks for the delivery of that order to arrive...and when it finally does, someone else kindly points out that there is something else you need that you forgot to order 

LOLLLL I get my bling from Pyrodrone. I live in So Cal so orders get to me super fast. They have a decent selection of bling. I believe it's in a section called, "bling" LOL.

[edit] Dont forget the blue prop nuts when you get the blue screws lol.

You fancy bunch.

I used to colour co-ordinate my stuff until I moved to S4 props, which only come in yellow and green - so now my quad looks like a clown. It's liberating, though!

You can barely see the quad under a thick layer of dead plant matter, anyway. Join the Colo[u]r Freedom Coalition today!

Hahah thanks guys for suggestions.
I am not sure If I am going overkill and changing nuts and screws

I really like the way it's looking now, but struggling to decide how to cover ESCs. (i won't have 4in1).
As beginner I took Oscars advice and not using 4in1 for my first build.

I bought some black heat shrink locally but still have no idea how to nicely apply it.
Do you also heat it when applying to ESCs so it sticks on nicely? Maybe I just go with plastic + electrical tape.

Btw where would be the best way to order GoPro mount for Martian?
I am thinking of buying used Session 5.

And I must not forget grip for batteries. Hopefully I can order them together with LiPo's..
https://demonrc.eu/product/drc-fusion-4s...tery-copy/

(14-Oct-2019, 09:47 AM)notafraid_fpv Wrote: I really like the way it's looking now, but struggling to decide how to cover ESCs. (i won't have 4in1).
As beginner I took Oscars advice and not using 4in1 for my first build.

I bought some black heat shrink locally but still have no idea how to nicely apply it.
Do you also heat it when applying to ESCs so it sticks on nicely? Maybe I just go with plastic + electrical tape.

Btw where would be the best way to order GoPro mount for Martian?
I am thinking of buying used Session 5.

And I must not forget grip for batteries. Hopefully I can order them together with LiPo's..
https://demonrc.eu/product/drc-fusion-4s...tery-copy/

For ESC protection, I recommend getting some 3D printed TPU covers. Looks much nicer than tape just wrapped over them or a prop blade taped to the top. I guess it depends how pretty you want it to look but I think we already know  

You can see the TPU covers I have over my ESCs in step 10 of the one of my build log posts HERE.

I started looking at used/refurbished GoPro Session 5's not long ago but the prices they go for is astronomical. Plus if you end up destroying it in a crash then getting a replacement may become impossible, and once you've got used to the footage they produce you won't ever want to change to anything else. For this reason I've just got myself a RunCam 5 which can produce similar results with Banelle's magic software. Take a look at some of Banelle's videos and you will see how good the footage look from them. The recorded audio from the RunCam 5 leaves a lot to be desired but if you put music over your videos then audio of screaming props doesn't matter anyway

As for a GoPro Session 5 / RunCam 5 mount (both can use exactly the same mounts) then I suggest you get a 3D printed one. Assuming you don't have your own 3D printer, if you have a company in your country that provides a 3D printing service (or a friend you know that has a 3D printer) then you can pick something off Thingiverse that has already been designed by someone and get them to print it for you.

And as for grippy stuff for your LiPos, get some Ummagrip. It really is magic stuff and once you've used it you won't use anything else  (see HERE).

(14-Oct-2019, 01:51 PM)SnowLeopardFPV Wrote:  

And as for grippy stuff for your LiPos, get some Ummagrip. It really is magic stuff and once you've used it you won't use anything else see HERE).

Hey Snow, this guy liked his Ummagrip too....

(14-Oct-2019, 02:20 PM)Krohsis Wrote: Hey Snow, this guy liked his Ummagrip too....

That guy should have read the small print. Ummagrip isn't to be used INSTEAD of straps. You still need to use straps